June 21, 2020 “The Tent” (** out of four) was a frustrating melodrama set after an apocalyptic event called The Crisis in which an elderly man (Tim Kaiser) and a younger woman (Lulu Dahl) cross paths as they are both stranded in the wilderness for survival in which they both take refuge in a tent to ward off the ugliness and uncertainty of the outside world. Dour and aloof storyline is hard to get involved in for much of film’s running time but the final third and film’s ending does have some touching moments about loss and death. Give writer/director Kyle Couch some credit for making a new take on the post-apocalyptic genre but it’s overall effects are mixed and muted. Continue reading →
June 21, 2020 “The Evil Rises” (* out of four) was a grade-Z horror thriller about a group of young friends (Bailey La Flam, Michael Glauser, Julian De La Mora) and others who discover an ancient statue that (yawn) unleashes an evil spirit and entity unto the world; it’s up to a pizza delivery boy, a detective, and (naturally) a priest to save the day and send the statue back to the bowels of Hell. Or something like that. Incredibly low-rent thriller is also low on thrills and low on brains. Movies like these make you wonder whether the horror genre will ever effectively “rise” again! Continue reading →
June 20, 2020 “Abducted On Air” (** out of four) was a tame suspense thriller about a local news reporter (Kim Shaw) with aspirations of being a television star who is kidnapped on air and suddenly is thrust into the spotlight and becomes a media firestorm. Was this kidnapping real or was this something engineered to bring her more notoriety and coverage? Competently made and acted but lacking in suspense and scares that make these kinds of movies satisfying. Director Gus Van Sant told a similar story with much more comedic and satiric flair in 1995’s “To Die For.” Continue reading →
June 20, 2020 “Melany Rose” (* out of four) was a disastrously lame horror show about a doctor (Dawn Hamil), reeling from the death of one of her former patients, who takes a job working for a mysterious physician (Steven Marlow) at a military facility conducting strange experiments on maximum-security inmates. Allegedly inspired by MKUltra which were illegal CIA mind-control experiments but seems even more inspired by “The Shining”, “Hellhole”, and also “Shutter Island” although that’s by no means meant as a compliment. By the time you sort out the muddle, film is too far gone for it to matter. Only some striking cinematography from Jarrod Rosenstock towards the end is film’s sole asset. Continue reading →
June 20, 2020 “Chameleon” (** out of four) was a turgid melodrama about an ex-con (Joel Hogan) fresh out of prison who returns to a lifestyle of crime with his former cellmate (Donald Prebatah) involving scamming wives and their husbands in L.A. but their games soon attract the attention of a hard-nosed cop (Alicia Leigh Willis) who attempts to bring them down. Familiar story of lowlifes and cops never rises above the mire and remains mild through-out without ever taking off. Elegiac music score by Jeremy Nathan Tisser is a definite plus. Inauspicious feature-length directing debut for music video director Marcus Mizelle. Continue reading →
June 20, 2020 “A Wreck Without You” (** out of four) was an earnest but slight melodrama about a young man (Alexander Roberts) whose lover (Rya Meyers) disappears without a trace and without any reason; years later he moves on with a new girlfriend (Camille Hendricks) but still finds himself psychologically stuck and this worsens once he receives a box which soon solves the mystery of what happened with his former lover. Interesting themes of guilt and lost love but story fails to ignite emotionally; shot in grainy black-and-white photography but that also becomes mundane after a while, much like the film itself. Similar story covered in much more horrific terrain in “The Vanishing.” Continue reading →
June 20, 2020 “I Am Vengeance: Retaliation” (**1/2 out of four) was a serviceable action sequel about a former Special Forces solider (Stu Bennett) who is given the opportunity to enact his vengeance on a villainous and ruthless former solider (Vinnie Jones) by transporting him to justice but has to contend with various underworld figures trying to break him free along the way and a world-class assassin who is trying to kill Jones on their own and doesn’t want him brought to prison. Lack of distinction and variation (not to mention being unnecessary) are made up by plenty of kinetic fights and nonstop action which actually makes this an improvement over the original. Would it kill Jones to play a different role once in a while? Continue reading →
June 19, 2020 “Force Of Nature” (** out of four) was a sputtering action thriller about a group of vicious thieves (led by David Zayas) who plan a lucrative heist during a hurricane when a building has to be evacuated but find opposition when several of the building tenants (Kate Bosworth and Mel Gibson) and a cop (Emile Hirsch) fight back and they all try to survive the hurricane and stay alive. Initially tense and unsettling for the first half but then loses its momentum and turns banal and tedious. The weather of a quick storm that soon flames out. Continue reading →
June 18, 2020 “You Should Have Left” (** out of four) was a pallid horror thriller about a screenwriter (Kevin Bacon) and his wife (a gaunt Amanda Seyfried) and daughter (Avery Tiiu Essex) who travel to a home in the remote countryside where strange occurrences begin happening that unearth dark secrets that divide them apart and threaten their family unity and in turn their lives. Elegantly and atmospherically shot by Angus Hudson and does have some creepy moments towards the end but is otherwise an all-too-obvious and logy imitation of “The Shining.” Directed by David Koepp but this is no match for his last collaboration with Bacon “Stir Of Echoes”; this movie just stirs echoes of past horror classics. Continue reading →
June 17, 2020 “Driven” (* out of four) was an almost completely inept melodrama about a female cab driver (Casey Dillard) who picks up a mysterious and strange passenger (Richard Speight, Jr.) which turns her night inside-out and she realizes she’s battling an evil entity that may threaten her sanity and thus her life. Opening half-hour may remind you a lot of Michael Mann’s “Collateral” but it’s the best part of the movie as film veers disastrously into several other directions which are pretentious and incoherent. Annoying characters and performances are icing on the cake. You’ll want to put the brakes on this mess long before its running time is up. Continue reading →
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